Cue Theme Music: Snoopy Will Dance on the Big Screen

Sure, everyone has heard by now that Ben Affleck is the new Batman…And that Avengers 2 is coming. With the deluge of superhero movies by the big 2, it is easy to forget the little guys. But fear not! One beagle and his owner are returning to take over the silver screen!

The blockhead Charlie Brown first appeared in the Li’l Folks comic strip in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Charles M. Schulz then started a different strip starring Charlie Brown, his dog Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. It ran daily for 50 years from 1950-2000. Fantagraphics Books is currently publishing the all-encompassing collection  The Complete Peanuts. Boom Studios is also publishing a monthly Peanuts comic book.

Fantagraphics Books

Snoopy and Charlie Brown and the Peanuts are some of the best known characters worldwide, and for good reason. Charlie Brown has been a staple among television specials, the most notable being: A Charlie Brown Christmas(1965), It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown(1966), and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving(1973) all still played annually on ABC. Snoopy and the gang are mascots of MetLife insurance. They have stared in not one but two musicals: “Snoopy” and “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”, both still popular and performed around the world. In 2015, Blue Sky will produce the fifth movie in the franchise. A Boy Named Charlie Brown(1969), Snoopy, Come Home (1972), Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown(1977) and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown(and Don’t Come Back!!)(1980) were all traditionally animated but Peanuts(2015) will be done in CGI. Blue Sky has a very good track record with CGI animation with Rio, Ice Age, Epic and Robots under their belt. Take a look at the trailer below. Peanuts will be released in theatres November 6, 2015. 

Stripped: Documenting a Return to Glory

Calvin and Hobbes creator, Bill Watterson, released his first public piece of artwork in 19 years. It is the theatrical poster for Stripped- a new documentary directed, written and produced by Dave Kellet and Fredrick Shroeder of Sequential Films, Inc.. The feature length documentary is said to be a love letter to comic strips with candid conversations about cartoonists, comics, funnies, newspapers and online outlets. It is available on  iTunes now.

Bill Watterson gives his first EVER recorded interview in Stripped. He is one of 90 interviews collected for the documentary. Creators of note are Jeff Smith, creator of Bone and RASL; Garfield’s Jeff Davis; Inheritor of the Peanuts legacy, Jean Schulz; Understanding Comics author, Scott McCloud; Cathy Guisewite(Cathy) and Jeff Keane(Family Circus). Even internet comics are represented with Matt Inman of The Oatmeal and Ryan North from Dinosaur Comics.

Watterson made the news at the beginning of month as he won the Grand Prix award at the 41st Angoulême International Comics Festival in France. As winner of the esteemed award, he automatically becomes Grand Marshall for next year’s Festival, responsible for planning and promotion. The cartoonist is very elusive and does not make public appearances. It is to be determined how cooperative, helpful, and/or present in next year’s Festival. The author and his work are the focus of last year's documentary Dear Mr Watterson, by Joel Allen Schroeder. His last public work: Calvin and Hobbes' last strip was published December 31st, 1995. The characters have never been licensed. (That Calvin window sticker on the back of cars is unauthorized). 

"I clearly miscalculated how popular it would be to show Calvin urinating on a Ford logo."-Bill Watterson

In an interview with the Washington Post, Watterson stated why he decided to contribute with the poster. "Given the movie's title and the fact that there are few things funnier than human nudity, the idea popped into my head largely intact. The film is a big valentine to comics, so I tried to do something really cartoon-y." Is Watterson turning over a new leaf? Could this mean anything for Angoulême 2015? Only time will tell. Check out the trailer at the film’s website.